x Preface . 
can only regret that my counsels have not made 
themselves heard. 
Yet this ignoble war between barbarous tribes 
whom it has long been the fashion to pet, this poor 
scuffle between the breechloader and the Birming¬ 
ham trade musket, may yet in one sense do good. 
It must perforce draw public attention to the West 
Coast of Africa, and raise the question, “ What 
shall we do with it ? ” My humble opinion, ex¬ 
pressed early in 1865 to the Right Honourable 
Mr. Adderley, has ever been this. If we are de¬ 
termined not to follow the example of the French, 
the Dutch, the Portuguese, and the Spaniards, and 
not to use the country as a convict station, resolv¬ 
ing to consume, as it were, our crime at home, we 
should also resolve to retain only a few ports and 
forts, without territory, at points commanding 
commerce, after the fashion of the Lusitanians 
in the old heroic days. The export- slave-trade 
is now dead and buried ; the want of demand 
must prevent its revival ; and free emigration has 
yet to be created. As Mr. Bright rightly teaches, 
strong places and garrisons are not necessary 
to foster trade and to promote the success of 
missions. The best proof on the West African 
Coast is to be found in the so-called Oil Rivers, 
where we have never held a mile of ground, and 
where our commerce prospers most. The great 
“Tribune” will forgive my agreeing in opinion 
